Posted on 04/06/2009 10:52:31 AM PDT by jazusamo
In a blow to Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon has decided to purchase to end funding of the F-22 fighter jet.
The decision by Defense Secretary Robert Gates will rouse widespread opposition in Congress and is likely to bog down the 2010 budget approval process, with F-22 supporters maneuvering to secure more money.
The Pentagon will fund four of the radar-evading stealth fighters in the upcoming 2009 emergency war-spending request, but those additional aircraft will do little to keep the production line in Marietta, Ga., open beyond 2011. Lockheed Martin is the main contractor for the F-22, each of which costs about $140 million.
Gates announced the decision at a press conference on the Defense budget on Monday afternoon.
No money will be requested in the fiscal 2010 budget, congressional and industry sources familiar with the budget briefings told The Hill. Gates has been making calls to the chairmen of the congressional defense committees.
The final F-22 of the 183 currently on order will be delivered at the end of 2011. Building another four would keep the line open for only a few months beyond that end date.
Lockheed Martin and its subcontractors, including Boeing, in recent weeks have stepped up their campaign to keep the production line open. They argue that 25,000 people work directly for the 1,000 suppliers of the F-22 in 44 states, and another 70,000 indirectly owe their jobs to this program.
You sir are no spokesman for the B-52.
No disrespect intended you idiot.
when the VP guaranteed some kind of action,
why, why, cut defense at the same time as increasing troop levels ?????
RBTL
look at the left hand, the msm is reporting the other..
great link on preparing electrical components
“You’re correct, the F-22 is a most valuable weapon for our future defense and that should be the argument to keep funding it.”
Obama just opened the door for the rest of the world to catch up to our air superiority.
No disrespect intended to anyone serving in the Air Force today. I served my country and so did my brother. We’re patriots, guys! We would serve again if we could turn the clock back 30 years.
I’m a patriot, as you can all tell from my posts, and relish my days in uniform.
As for the F-22, it served its time too. There will be a better aircraft coming your way soon. I just ask that the Air Force try to be better with the IFF, ok?
I don't think you really have any idea what the F-22 is capable of in the WOT. I say this because only top secret clearence level people have an inkling what new things can be added to an existing machine.
That’s it? That’s your “bent”? You’re anti-Air Force? What a loon.
BTW, you logic, isn’t logical.
“The Air Force is way too politically correct and in the tank for BHO to ever be disbanded.”
Makes no sense in light of BHO canceling their new baby, now does it?
They should be able to. Usually the “cost” of an airplane includes a portion of the development costs, thus the more planes one buys means the development costs are spread over a larger number of items, thus lowering the “total” cost of the program.
An example is the cost to produce the 1st B-1 bomber was X dollars, as the cost included all of the money spent to design and develop the plane, as the numbers went up, the cost per plane went down. The same applied in WWII, the first B-17 cost a lot, by the time 20,000+ were built, the per plane cost was a heck of a lot lower because the development dollars were spread over 20,000+ instead of a few dozen.
Look, we’re professionals, right? let’s not mention TS stuff ever here in a public forum, ok? Don’t get overexcited and spill some beans that shouldn’t be spilled!
We’re having a discussion here on the F-22. It’s being phased out but there are better planes coming your way. It could even be that the F-22 will be revised and rereleased in 2013-2014. The aircraft in the military have a very extensive shelflife.
That shelf life, is due in no small part, to the great work of maintenance by our great heroes in the U.S. Military. I know this first hand because I did do maintenance work on Navy aircraft in the gulf in the early 1990’s.
If we built the original 800 aircraft at $140 million each, we would be looking at a total outlay of $112 billion dollars. That $112 billion would be spend over a decade or more. Yearly costs would come in at about 11.2 billion per year for ten years.
Obama’s budget up for consideration right now is $3.5 trillion for one year. The F-22 program would be 0.3294% of his budget. And evidently that’s too high a price for him to approve.
“to prematurely kill the program or Obama.”
I don’t it would be possible to do the latter. LOL He’s a textbook case for abortion.
The One will not allow our military to have the tools needed to fight against the 21st century enemies - thus, the F-22 had to go. It will not be the last weapons system that The One will cut (and then there’s those pesky little privately owned firearms that law abiding citizens own - they have to go too!!!).
Sounds like drug abuse to me... ~
You’re at Hill too?
He’s doing what successive Lieberal governments did to our military over the past 40 years.
Enjoy your rest, prof.
You’re not insulting me. You’re inadvertently insulting yourself. I respect your service. I don’t even come close to respecting your opinion on this.
This aircraft is decades down the pipeline into full production, and now you want us to cancel the program and start all over at scratch. And when the next aircraft comes in at $200 million per copy, you’ll want to ash can that project too.
No, the time to put up or shut up on this aircraft is long time past. It’s time to build it and knock off the back bench nonsense.
He was kinda stinkin’ up the place, ever since this morning.
“Wow, there is something that costs too damned much even by Obama’s standards. Freedom and liberty being the hill too high to climb...”
I think you know that the cutting of military programs has nothing to do with money. And don’t forget he will have nothing to do with Star Wars weaponry.
Yes, I think as you said it here, that it is the individual freedom he is trying to destroy and he’s doing well at it so far. It is dependency on him he craves from us all.
I just wonder how long it is going to be before we quit talking through forums and start talking to his face along with his cronies. We won’t get it done this way.
Don't overconstrue my point. It's a multirole fighter. The first place you might have seen it would be dropping JDAMs on Iran, you never know.
Whether the Zero will order it or not they will protect the country from attack.
Ok. Semantics.
Guns don't kill, people do. And Raptor pilots don't fly without orders.
I think it is perfectly clear that with Zero as CinC, The USA is essentially just waiting, defenseless, for the next 9.11.
You spelled your name incorrectly. It should be ‘troll’.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.